Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan has admonished Information Officers at the Local Government levels to up the ante in order to ensure that the people at the grassroots get information on various government programmes.
Addressing the Officers in his office in Alausa, Bamigbetan stated that many residents of grassroots areas cannot make a distinction between Federal, State or Local Government Information Officers but are rather interested in getting information about what the government is doing to make life more meaningful for them.
He admonished the Officers to leverage on the established communication processes put in place by the State government to pass information on local activities.
“The concern of an average person is service delivery. Many Lagosians cannot distinguish between Local Government, State or Federal Government, so information machinery of the State and Local Government must be integrated to work together for improved service delivery”, he said.
The Commissioner promised to fuse their operations into the State communication process in line with the policy of the government of inclusion of the current administration so as to ensure that every resident is kept updated on government activities.
Bamigbetan stressed that there can be no better time for a robust information management than now when Nigeria is preparing for the National election and the citizenry will await information that will guide them in making an informed decision on their choice of leaders, adding that well-informed citizenry will choose rightly and the country will be better for it.
Earlier, the Officers appreciated the Commissioner for making them more relevant in government information management.
They acknowledged that the Commissioner was able to set a standard of practice for their activities while he was the Special Adviser on Community Communications which, they said, made them more visible.
The Officers pledged to support the Commissioner in his vision of fusing local government information management into the State apparatus by furnishing the Ministry with information as they break.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Kofoworola Awobamishe, commended the Information Officers for their various efforts at ensuring effective reporting of the local government activities.
She, however, urged them to double their performance, especially now that a lot has been done in the State that warrants reporting.